Ah the famous electrolyte. Sports drink commercials love talking about
them, but what are they, why do we need them and what happens if we don’t have enough? Electrolytes are salts. Actually, they’re salts that we take into
our body, usually by way of food. Electrolytes dissolve into positive and negative
charges and conduct electricity in water. The most common one is sodium chloride, aka
plain old table salt, while these are other common electrolytes in your body. Also known as ions, their charges are crucial
because they control the flow of water in our cells and nerve impulses in our bodies. Ion channels in cell membranes regulate the
flow of the positive and negative charges through cells. Water follows these charges, and always goes
to the side that has a greater number of electrolytes. Thanks, osmosis! Without the balancing act between electrolytes
and water, our cells could shrivel up and die, or burst from being too full. In nerve cells, a positive ion moving through
an ion channel sparks off an electrical impulse, signaling our bodies to function properly. That’s right. Electrolytes control the constant impulses
in our bodies to keep our hearts beating, our lungs breathing, and our brains learning. So yeah -- electrolytes are pretty important. They also make your sweat salty. When we’re working out and our bodies start
to heat up, ion channels in our cells dump electrolytes, aka salt, into the sweat gland. Thanks to osmosis, water follows closely behind. This increases the pressure in the gland,
so that salty mix gets pushed out onto the skin. When that water evaporates, it pulls heat
off your body and cools you down, leaving a salty residue behind. But if you lose too many electrolytes, your
nerves won’t work properly, which can lead to problems with your heart, blood pressure,
breathing and you’ll definitely not be performing your best. So you’d better reach for the bright orange
sports drink and get those electrolytes back ASAP, right?! Well, maybe not. There’s been controversy recently on whether
sports drinks are even necessary. People generally get enough electrolytes to
replenish the ones lost in a workout from their diet. Also, some sports drinks have sugar in them. So if you’re doing a half an hour of cardio,
a single bottle of the stuff will give you back all the calories you just worked off. If you’re working out for an hour or less
or so, water will keep you hydrated and you probably don’t need those extra electrolytes
or sugars. But if you’re someone like this, or this,
or maybe running a marathon, feel free to reach for that sports drink now and again. Your body will thank you. Thirsty for more? Let us know your burning chemistry questions
and we might tackle them in a future video. Thumbs up on the way out and thanks for watching!